Currently I have a Panasonic FX01 for portability and until recently had a Minolta A1 which I used in combination with the FX01 when travelling – I liked it due to the better image quality, image stabilisation, flexibility and zoom (I really liked this camera with the exception that a bit more zoom would have been nice). This has been a really good combination so far but the other day the A1 packed up.

So long and the short of it is I now need to select a new camera. The options I have been considering are:

Pentax K100D
Nikon D50
Panasonic FZ50

I realise the first two are dSLR’s and the last is a bridge camera but I’m at a novice level and like to play with the settings and experiment while my wife likes to point and shoot (lots!) but get good results.

We will be travelling for about 5 months next year through Africa, Russia, Asia and Australia so want kit that is portable (i.e. satchel bag) and reliable. If I end up going with one of the dSLR’s I though I might get an 18 – 200 lenses as this will cover most of what I want and means I don’t have to change lenses much and risk getting dust on the sensors

The reason I put the FZ50 in there is that it offers an easy all in one solution and there are alot of good comments on it. My concerns about it are that is only 35 mm wide angle and doesn’t seem to have the best low light use i.e. we will only have a mini tripod with us so most shots will be hand held and the reviews seem to say that at 200 or higher iso the images in the FZ50 are not good at all.

So my questions are as flows:

Which camera would you recommend for my travel needs and experience level?

If it’s the dSLR which one do you recommend? Is the stabilisation of the Pentax worth it to have a slightly slower auto focus?

If the dSLR is the 18 – 200 mm lens a good idea or would I be better with two lenses?